Aftermath
by Wesfanemt333
Summary: Takes place shortly after Ray is killed. AU. Daisy/Mason eventually. Now rated M because of Mason's potty mouth. Swearing.
1. Chapter 1

_Needless to say, I don't own Dead Like Me or any of the characters mentioned. This story takes place shortly after the graveling comes out of Ray. It goes au from there. _

Mason was busy doing something he'd never done before, and hoped he'd never have to do again. He was digging a grave. For Ray, Daisy's psychotic ex-boyfriend, who didn't accept her dumping him. He was still a bit drunk, but even that buzz was wearing off and reality was setting in. He glanced up to see Daisy in the window, silently watching him. He hadn't meant to kill Ray, but he wasn't going to mourn the man's death either. Ray had been an abusive asshole. He'd seen the way the man had gripped Daisy, hurting her arms, when they'd been in the bar. He hated seeing Daisy, the woman he loved, being treated so badly. And part of him had been angry with her, for allowing Ray to harm her.

Daisy watched Mason in the backyard, feeling a bit numb. It had all happened so very quickly; one minute, Ray had been choking her and the next, he was dead. She shivered, knowing it was all her fault. She shouldn't have hooked up with Ray, should never have slept with him, or been on his horrible excuse for a television show. And now there was going to be trouble. She knew it, and sooner or later Rube would find out. Then he'd send her away, just like Atlanta, Chicago, and New York. She didn't want to be transferred again. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her rushing thoughts.

Eventually, Mason finished the job. He walked back into the house,

"Daisy, love. It's done." She came over to him, her facade firmly in place. She nodded,

"Thank you, Mason, you should probably go home now. I can handle things from here." Although her voice radiated calm, Mason knew she wasn't all right. And she probably wouldn't be for a good while. He looked at her, feeling the effects of being sober and the weight of what they'd done. He noticed that her face was relaxed and her voice was steady, but her hands were shaking ever so slightly. He gently touched her hands.

"Love, you'd be a lot more believable if your hands weren't shaking." He guided her over to the couch, "Sit down, and I'll make you a nice cuppa, like me Mum used to make for me, when I was upset or couldn't sleep." He ignored her quiet protests and headed to the kitchen. She could hear him banging things around, running the water. She sighed, knowing that Mason could be as stubborn as Georgia. Sometimes, it was just better to let them both do their thing. He came out several minutes later, with two steaming cups. Whatever was in them smelled all right. She took a cautious sip, surprised at the taste,

"Mason, is that brandy in here?" He shrugged, nonchalantly as if adding alcohol to drinks was perfectly normal. Which for him, it was.

"What, you don't think my drinking habits just appeared outta nowhere, did you? My Mum taught me all about alcohol. Fuck. By the time I was in primary, I knew more about whiskey and booze then I did about me bloody abc's." This news wasn't shocking to Daisy, but it wasn't happy news either. He moved his free arm around her shoulders. In normal times, she'd have dumped the tea in his lap, as she'd done with her soda their first meeting. But this was anything but normal. Her nerves were severely rattled, and she was enjoying the warmth. "Just relax, we will get this all sorted in a bit."

Daisy didn't protest, as she drank the tea. She started to feel a little less frazzled and on edge as the brandy took effect. After she'd finished the tea, Mason took her empty cup, and set it aside. He didn't try anything, didn't make any moves on her. He just held her, as she drifted off to sleep. A little while later, he dozed off as well.

Mason was woken what seemed to be just mere minutes after he'd dozed off. Daisy was whimpering in her sleep. She was clearly having a horrible dream, so he started talking to her softly. It wasn't really surprising. After the day they'd had, especially all the shit with Ray, a bad dream was to be expected.

"Daisy, come on, it's just a dream. It's me, Mason." Daisy woke up with a jerk, taking a gasping breath. "Easy now, it's all right. You're fine." Mason tried to comfort her as best as he could. He hugged her, while starting to rub her back tenderly. She was tempted to pull away, but for some reason, it just felt right. When she finally calmed down, he released her from the hug, noticing the tears in her eyes. She refused to cry, though. She wasn't going to give that asshole Ray the satisfaction, even when he was dead, of reducing her to tears.

"I'm okay, Mason. It was only a bad dream. Thank you for waking me." She took another deep breath, trying to relax. Her nerves were taut and she was feeling it. She didn't think she wanted to go back to sleep. Not with the dreams she was going to face. She remembered Ray, his hands on her throat. If Mason hadn't stopped him, things would have gotten even worse. Ray couldn't have harmed her, not permanently, but that was just as bad. No one was supposed to know about their real purpose, and she did not want to be responsible for repercussions of that magnitude. Hell no. Mason cut into her thoughts,

"Why don't we get out of here for a while? I know Der Waffle Haus is open, and I'll take care of the bill." Daisy looked at him, confused. Mason was almost always broke. He spent what little money he had on booze and other illegal substances. How would he be able to afford to cover bother of them? She didn't need to voice her concerns, because Mason dug out a wad of bill, easily two hundred dollars in cash. Which made her wonder about where it came from.

"Where did you get that kind of money, Mason? Last I knew, you were flat broke. Were you holding out on me at the bar?" Mason smiled and shook his head,

"Well, luv, let's just say your ex is payin' for us. And why shouldn't he?" Daisy knew what had happened. It was perfectly clear and she wondered why she didn't realize it in the first place. Mason had taken the money out of Ray's wallet. Which made sense, Ray certainly didn't need it anymore. Unless he wanted to buy drinks in hell. She grabbed her coat, and checked her make-up quickly before they left.

_Let me know what you all think. Is this worth continuing? Reviews would be heartily welcomed._


	2. Chapter 2

_Yes, I know it's been forever since I updated. Well, rl has been incredibly busy, and work ate my muse. Thankfully it's back for now. If anyone of my readers is wondering, yes, I changed the rating from T to M. I realized the language was probably a bit much for it to be a T. Hope you enjoy it. As usual, I own nada. _

Der Waffle Haus was a welcoming site; clean, brightly lit and absolutely dead. At three in the morning, Daisy and Mason would have been surprised to see the place busy. Most sane people were still asleep in their beds. Or others would be working a graveyard shift. Mason found a table near the back, where they'd be able to talk. Obviously, given the night's events, they had a few things to work out. A man was dead, and they couldn't let Rube and the other reapers find out.

Kiffany, their usual waitress came by to drop off their menus. She held out the pot of coffee, offering them a cup. Mason smiled,

"That will be perfect, Kiffany. We could both use the caffeine." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. While she poured their coffee, he glanced over the money inside. He picked out two twenty dollar bills, handing them to the waitress. She looked at the bills as she took them, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Keep the change." Mason told Kiffany in an undertone. She smiled, since this was the first time Mason had tipped her. Ever.

"Will you two need a menu?" Mason glanced at Daisy, who hadn't touched her coffee cup yet. He shook his head, and Kiffany walked away. Daisy still seemed a little shaken, and Mason wasn't entirely sure how to handle Rube in the morning. He needed to think, which was not something he was accustomed to doing. He wasn't a thinker, not really. He genuinely lived in the moment, although that tended to get him in difficult situations. He was contemplating the issue, when Daisy spoke up,

"What are we going to tell Rube?" The worry was clear in her voice. Mason looked her in the eyes, as he reached out his hand. He gently rubbed her fingers, feeling how cold they were.

"I'm working on that. I'm remembering something me Dad used to say whenever I needed an excuse for my teacher. He'd tell me, 'Keep it simple, stupid.' Wasn't that nice, but it worked. I think we should start off with what really happened, and then change a few bits here and there." Daisy didn't look entirely convinced, but that didn't bother him. He knew they had at least a few hours to work out the kinks in their story.

Rube walked in Der Waffle Haus to find Mason and Daisy already there. He raised his eyebrow, wondering what his two troublesome reapers were doing there so early. The sun was barely starting to peek out over the horizon. He caught Kiffany's eye and waved her over,

"How long have those two been here?" He asked quietly, unsure if he really wanted to know. While he didn't mind his job as the head reaper, Daisy and Mason were a headache at times. Especially Mason.

"Oh, they came in around three this morning. Ordered some coffee and have been here since." Rube was, if anything more confused than before. Usually Daisy had to be pried from her bed with a crowbar at this hour. That didn't count the hour or two she usually took to 'put on her face'. Mason was drunk or stoned more often than he was sober. This was a most odd occurrence. Something must have gone wrong. What, he didn't know. Yet.

Mason looked over at the door, to see Rube talking to Kiffany. He glanced over at Daisy, who was sipping her coffee. They'd gotten a few refills, he'd lost track of the exact number. She seemed to have calmed down. They'd decided on just the right version of the events that had happened the previous night. Mason nudged her gently, waiting until she had set down her cup.

"Rube's here. I think he's seen us." Daisy's eyes widened just a touch, as she slowly looked over at their boss. She sighed, knowing that the time had come. They had spent the past few hours going over the details. Now it was time to see just how well the story went over.

Rube walked up to the table, sitting down across from them. He started staring at Daisy, waiting for her to break the awkward silence. She played it cool, meeting his gaze. Mason sat for a few more minutes, and it was worth it, Rube's curiosity got the better of him,

"All right, what happened?" Rube stated. It was too early in the day for games, and he hadn't gotten his coffee yet. Mason gently squeezed Daisy's hand from under the table, signaling her to start talking.

"There was a problem last night. With Ray." Daisy took a deep breath, grateful that Mason was here with her, had stood by her. Even last night, after what had happened, what they'd done, he hadn't run away. No one had done that for her, before or after she'd died. "He was waiting in my house when I got there. He attacked me, started trying to choke me." She paused for a moment, trying to remain calm.

"Asshole." Rube said. Mason could hear the wrath in Rube's one word. He was very glad that anger was not directed at him. "What happened next, Daisy?" She swallowed, suddenly unsure if she could actually say the words.

"He started to try and take my clothes off." She closed her eyes for a moment, as if trying to pull herself together. She stood up suddenly, and Mason rose as well, "I'm sorry, I, I can't." She got out of the booth quickly and nearly ran to the ladies bathroom. Mason waited for a moment, wondering if he should go after her, but decided he should sit down.

"Where do you come into this, Mason?" Rube paused for a few minutes to give Kiffany his order, and have his coffee poured. Rube looked closer at the younger man. Something was off. Not only was Mason stone cold sober, he actually looked clean. This seemed like yet another piece to the puzzle. Only Rube didn't know if he wanted to finish the damn thing. Mason took a swallow of his coffee before speaking.

"Well, I'd walked Daisy home, after we left the hospital. You know, George and the old bird didn't get the fact that she was dead and all? We'd decided to have a little drink together, so I went home for some. I got back, and I could hear a fight going on. "Mason stopped for a minute, drinking some more coffee. He rubbed his eyes, the long night finally starting to wear on him. "I rushed in, thinkin' maybe the house is been robbed. Found that bastard on top of Daisy, and I just, I dunno, saw red. I tossed him off her, told him he'd better get out of town. I ever saw his fuckin' face around here again, I'd kill him." Rube nodded,

"Did that asshole notice anything out of the ordinary about Daisy?" It seemed odd, not to ask about Daisy's physical welfare. But as a reaper, and being already undead, she couldn't be permanently injured. Mason shook his head,

"I got him out of there quick. If he's got any sense, he's packing up. Once he was gone, I checked on Daisy. She'll be all right, in a while. I guess. At any rate, I'm moving back into the house." Mason wasn't sure when he'd decided to move back in, but he knew when he said it, it was the best choice. "May not be the strongest fucking man, but I get the job done." Rube's face remained impassive, Mason had no idea what the man was thinking. To his surprise and pleasure, his boss nodded.

"Sounds like you've really thought things out, Mason. I'm impressed." Mason was fairly gob smacked. That was the single nicest thing Rube had said to him. At least, as far as he could remember, which wasn't very far. Rube continued, looking at the post-its for the day. "It looks like a slow day today. This one's timed okay; you should have time to get moved in after it's done." Rube handed Mason the yellow slip.

"Yeah, thanks Rube. I'll see Daisy to her house and get this done." Mason turned to head towards the rest rooms.

"Oh, and Mason?" Rube called out. Mason turned, and Rube finished. "Make sure the two of you get some sleep. It looks like the cat dragged you both in." Mason nodded in response, and started moving. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the door fly open and George walked in. She looked pissed, which was fairly normal for her. Mason thought back to the mess he'd left in the house, muddy boot prints, shattered ceramics, and then there was the kitchen. He headed back to the table, not looking forward to this scene.


End file.
